Raft of Nelson projects completed in time for Christmas break
Wednesday, 23 December 2020
A series of Nelson city projects have been completed just in time for the holiday season.
Nelson City Council is celebrating a “raft of completed infrastructure projects” which were finished in the week before Christmas.
The new $798,000 Tāhunanui toilet block, partly funded with a $250,000 Government grant, has opened on schedule despite the Covid-19 lockdown.
The new block has six toilets, unisex and family changing rooms, external hand-basins, and a place to fill water bottles and rinse off sandy feet.
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Other projects completed just before Christmas include the first phase of a Streets for People project on Kawai St South, completed ahead of schedule. It includes traffic-calming measures like planter-boxes, speed-cushions, and kerbside build-outs with tables and benches.
The project was completed with funding from Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency.
One of the controversial new covered bike stands in the central city was also due for completion on Wednesday – a 60-bike stand in Montgomery Square.
Cyclists using the stand might make their way into town using the just-completed connecting shared cycle-walkway between the Maitai river precinct and the Railway Reserve, which after one hiccup in construction opened this week.
The disruption to the Railway Reserve from the roadworks connecting a new hilltop development and Princes Dr to Waimea Rd has also come to an end, with the new reserve underpass also opening this week.
Mayor Rachel Reese said the council staff had put in a huge effort in 2020, ensuring delays from Covid-19 were minimised, and promising “much more in the pipeline in the New Year”.
“We have worked alongside Nelson’s business community and Tasman District Council with support from central government to keep projects moving along even during lockdown. These projects will keep people in Nelson employed and in turn, boost our local economy.”